The government is expected to announce that it is looking at halving the time tourists from outside the EU can stay in the UK from six to three months, a source at the Home Office said on Tuesday.

It is also expected to consult on charging UK families a cash bond of up to £1,000 for every relative visiting the country from outside the EU.

The aim is to reduce the number of visitors who deliberately flout their visa to stay or work illegally in the country.

The proposals are expected to be contained in a consultation paper to be unveiled by Immigration Minister Liam Byrne yesterday.

Families whose relatives fail to return home on time run the risk of forfeiting the deposit.

As well as shortening standard tourist visas, the government might introduce special occasion visas for events such as the London Olympics in 2012, the source added.

Applications for visas have gone up by about 50 per cent in the past five years and more than two million were issued last year.

The proposals were criticised by the Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants, an independent voluntary organisation.

The plans would "disproportionally discriminate against traditional communities like people from the Indian sub-continent, the Caribbean islands and Africa,"a spokesman told BBC radio.

He said they would also create hardship for poorer families. The measures are part of an overall shake-up of the immigration system.